Making It with Jon Davids 224 - "I Had No Idea How To Make a Shirt. Now We Sell $200M/yr." | Chris Riccobono, UNTUCKiT (replay)
Oct 28, 2025
Chris Riccobono, founder of UNTUCKiT, shares his journey of turning a simple idea into a $200 million brand. He discusses identifying the need for untucked shirts through street testing and innovative marketing strategies like radio ads. Chris reveals the challenges of maintaining quality and navigating COVID-related disruptions. He emphasizes the importance of physical retail in driving online sales and offers valuable advice for entrepreneurs on customer acquisition. Alongside future plans for expansion, he reflects on the evolving apparel market.
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Latent Demand For Shorter Shirts
- Chris Riccobono discovered a universal latent demand: most men had shirts that were too long to wear untucked.
- A single clear spec for length solved a widespread, unaddressed pain point and created product-market fit.
Learning Shirt Manufacturing By Walking The District
- Chris had no apparel experience and wandered into the fashion district to learn how shirts are made.
- He learned tight controls like washing fabric twice and 100% inspection were necessary to hit consistent lengths.
Manufacturing Complexity Became A Moat
- The production difficulty created a defensible moat because many competitors couldn't match consistency at scale.
- The brand name 'UNTUCKit' became synonymous with the category, amplifying that advantage.
